Summer 2013 Undergraduate Courses: Creative Writing

351:212 Creative Writing

We begin with creative nonfiction, which means writing about things that actually happened to you, because I subscribe to the belief articulated by Willa Cather that "a creative writer can do his best only with what lies within the range and character of his deepest sympathies." Cather wrote before inclusive language became a part of our vocabulary, but writing in the first person allows you to explore what excites your deepest sympathies. For the poetry section you need to submit a poem you admire, written by someone else, for the class to discuss, and for the fiction section you need to buy a short story collection to be named. . I will hand out the first person writings that will serve as prompts for your first three assignments. The course moves fast, so we do two assignments per week, as opposed to one a week during the regular semester. You will hand in assignments on Mondays and Wednesdays.